It’s Earth Day, let’s go digital in NY to save the trees

Today is Earth Day. This year, there can be no better way to celebrate Mother Earth and help the environment, not to mention save millions of tax dollars, than for the New York State legislature to go digital and stop the wasteful printing of legislation and other communications.

A constitutional amendment I sponsored and have promoted (A.7868/S.4417A) that will enable a digital copy of legislation to suffice on the 213 state legislative desks has twice passed the legislature which is mandated for constitutional amendments to get on the ballot. It will be on this November’s ballot where you can save more trees and vote “Yes” to allow New York to go digital.

Unread bills tossed in trash bins.

When I first debated the paper waste in Albany in 2011, I got Assembly Ways & Means Chairman Herman “Denny” Farrell, Jr. to admit that it costs taxpayers $13 million for legislative printing and up to $40 million to haul the waste out of the Capitol.

Passage of this constitutional amendment is just the first step in how we can reduce our state government’s carbon footprint.

I’m also sponsoring legislation “The Online Paperwork Reduction Act” (A.6080) that needs no constitutional change and would end the unnecessary printing of legislative reports, digests and other communications from our state agencies, authorities and universities and the hundreds of thousands of bills that are stockpiled in the Assembly and Senate Documents Rooms in what I’ve taken to call the “Bunker of Bills.”

It’s well past time our state government move out of the 19th century and into the 21st century with its messaging given the proliferation of digital technology.

The Assembly Document Room aka the Bunker of Bills.

There’s no question that if these proposals become law, Mother Earth will be smiling.

Jim Tedisco -- Member New York State Assembly

4 Responses

Nice work Assemblyman! Can’t wait till November to see it on the ballot – and to be able to weigh in. Now only if we could go back to using the lever machines. Just think of how many trees will be cut down in preparation of printing all of those ballots not to mention all those test ballots they use as well. Simply a waste! Happy Earth Day!

Jim I think I asked you this before, but is there any way the state could get a contract with a recycling company that would actually pay them for all of the paper they haul away, or do they already have a contract with one of Silver’s relatives or cohorts? Nice job with receiving the tax payers money!

Jimmy I saw your post about your blog on Facebook. You were still my Assemblyman and representing Niskayuna when you first introduced this idea. I never thought it would see the light of day. Thanks for plugging away and for making it happen. Hopefully Cuomo and the Democrats won’t squander away all of the money this initiative saves! You can be sure I will be voting in the affirmative on election day! I wish my representative was as resourceful as you with looking out for his constituents and saving us money.

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